Stuck in your nomad career? Time to pivot
Hey Freaking Nomads,
Hope you’re having a great weekend somewhere in the world.
When I hit the road back in 2021, I thought I’d cracked the code: freelance SEO gigs, a stable roster of clients, and the freedom to work from any café with half‑decent Wi‑Fi, even on the most beautiful beaches I could even imagine.
It felt like winning the nomad lottery until... it didn’t.
A couple of years in, I realised I’d swapped one treadmill for another. Same keyword audits, same Zoom calls, just a nicer backdrop.
That restlessness pushed me to pivot: from service‑based freelancer to building Freaking Nomads and become a full‑time entrepreneur.
Overnight? Not even close. I had to learn so many new skills like community building, social media management, product thinking, team building across time zones, product marketing, and so many other skills. I started wearing so many hats that I never thought I could.
Oddly enough, though, life on the move made the leap easier. Nomad life already trains you to adapt fast, solve problems, and spot gaps in the market, so if you are feeling the itch to reinvent your own career on the road, don't panic and seriously consider a shift.
How?
This is my personal playbook:
1/ Audit your skills (and your itch)
List what you’re good at (hard skills and soft skills) and what actually excites you. Somewhere in that overlap lies your next move.
2/ Tap the nomad hive mind
DM people doing work you admire. Join niche subreddits, Facebook groups or Telegram channels. Offer value first, then ask for feedback or a mini‑mentorship call.
3/ Learn in transit
Use flight layovers and quiet hostel nights to binge a targeted course on Coursera or dive into YouTube tutorials. Consistency beats cramming.
4/ Run micro‑tests
Pitch one small project in your new field, or build a scrappy MVP and share it with ten potential users. Real‑world feedback > theoretical perfection.
5/ Leverage geo‑arbitrage
Need runway? Base yourself in a low‑cost place while you ramp up the new gig. Your budget breathes, your stress drops, and your creativity spikes.
Pivoting as a nomad isn’t a detour. It’s the natural evolution of a lifestyle built on curiosity and flexibility.
If your current work feels like dead weight, give yourself permission to shift.
Your passport isn’t the only thing that can get new stamps.
Thanks for reading—and for growing alongside me (love you all).
Until next week,
Luca
🗞️ What's new in the nomad world
- Boarding passes might be going extinct. A UN-backed “digital travel credential” could replace them with facial recognition, if it actually rolls out...
Luca Mussari
- Meanwhile, South Africa’s digital nomad visa is, well, flopping. Only 24 issued since launch due to confusing rules and vague renewal terms.
Irene Wang
👀 What else...
- We didn’t expect to be swooning over a laptop stand, but here we are. It's extremely light, surprisingly sturdy, and folds down smaller than a water bottle. It’s not cheap, but neither is physical therapy.
Jessica Saabor
- Want to dodge rent for a bit? House sitting might be for you. You get a real home, a furry friend or two, and no rent bill at the end of the month.
Kiara Conaghan
- Heading to Japan soon and in need of an eSIM? We tried a bunch: a few stood out for speed, others for unlimited data, and one got us a local number (eventually). Some setups were smooth, others… less so.
Jessica Saabor
💼 100% remote jobs handpicked for you
Who is hiring this week? Here are some top roles to check out:
- Community & CRM Manager at Jobgether
- Brand Designer at Contra
- Reporting and Metrics Analyst at Deepseas
- AI-Enabled Marketing Content Manager at Future Works
- Simplified Chinese Editor at BeInCrypto
💡A resource you might like
This week, we wanted to share about Nomadicards, a beautiful little project by fellow nomad Francesco Carlucci.
After 7 years on the road, Francesco realized that what truly stayed with him wasn’t the epic places he visited. It was the people he met and the conversations they shared. So he created Nomadicards, a unique deck of cards designed to help nomads break the ice, go deeper, and connect over topics that actually matter.
Here’s what makes them special:
- Thoughtful prompts organized by mood and topic (color-coded and emoji-tagged!)
- Some questions are light and fun, others will make you pause and reflect
They are not for sale yet, but you can find them in selected colivings around the world, or you can request a deck directly at nomadicards.com.
Make sure to send him some love like only we Freaking Nomads know how to do 💖
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📚 Want more digital nomad guides? Read our articles on all things nomad, including travel tips, budgeting & finance, legal and taxes, community, productivity and more.
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We'll see you there, Freaking Nomads 👋
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